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Sunday, July 27, 2014

I have been a ModCloth lover since my very first order back in 2010. Currently half of my wardrobe is from them. Their whimsical, quirky, romantic style is me to a T. If I could wear dresses every day of my life I would! When I saw some posts by ModCloth's Nail Klub being created based of some of their fabulous frocks I knew I had to jump in.

I went through a lot of summer dresses to find one that I thought would be perfect to pull a nail design from. When I saw the Graceful Greenery Dress in Dog Park it was calling to me!

The print of this dress, by Bernie Dexter, is a beautiful crimson with vintage cartoon doggies everywhere. Upon further digging of this unique print I found out that it is by Tammis Keefe who worked in the Disney studios and was one of the first women back in the 40's and 50's to become well known and attributed to her commercial artwork. You can see her signature on parts of the dress. She produced around 400 designs for handkerchiefs and dishtowels all featuring her unique style during some of my favorite eras.

I went right to emulating the design on the dress by recreating some of the pooches featured.

For the base I used Essie Snap Happy which, by the way is one of my absolute favorite formulas ever. For the detail I hand painted white outlines of the dogs from poodles, to dachshunds to chihuahuas and then added accents of brown, grey and black for the details. Finishing the design off with a matte top coat from Butter London helped give these nails a cloth like appearance.

One little pup wasn't included on the print of the dress. It's Winston the spokes-pug, ModCloths mascot! Can you spot him peeking up on my middle nail?

New to ModCloth? It's an amazing online store that carries vintage, vintage inspired and indie clothing and accessories. Get $15 off your first order of $50 or more when you sign up for a new account here.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

I don't own my own pair of Louboutins but, just like every other girl in the world I'd kill for a pair. That's probably why Christian Louboutin decided to launch his very own beauty collection starting with nail polish that can also double as a weapon.

News dropped about Christian Louboutin's Beaute nail polish collection on 7/23. You can preorder through Saks Fifth Avenue for the release of Rouge on 8/6 but, if you were lucky enough to be near the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in NYC you could go there and pick up a bottle of Rouge early. You can also pick Rouge up at any of the Louboutin boutiques.

I ran on my lunch break and snagged a bottle.

Each bottle is housed in a hand-made, patent leather like, red and black box. One side has a raised Louboutin signature.

These bottles are huge with an 8" handle. It takes 22 weeks to make each polish as the 16-faceted glass bottle is finished with a hand-held flame and the box is hand crafted.

The glass bottle itself has a black to clear ombre allowing you to peek through to see the polish color on top.

For $50 a bottle, the bottle just can't be pretty, the formula should rock as well. Louboutin states that this long-wearing, chip resistant formula is highly pigmented with luxe, glossy color and UV protection to keep the color true. Two coats should give the effect of 20 layers of traditional lacquer, with a brilliant shine. Rouge is the same pigment of red used on the soles of Louboutin shoes.

Indoor Lighting

Beauty brands say lots of things about their products but this is the first time I feel like something has lived up to the hype.

Rouge is violently beautiful. One coat is full coverage. Yes, it's a one coater! I used two coats because why not. The super long brush handle is heavy making it easy to control. Polish only went where I wanted it. The glossiness of this varnish is highly reflective without a topcoat (I didn't use one).

Natural Lighting

As August approaches I can't wait to find out more information about the other 30 shades coming out. It looks like Rouge is the star of the collection with the other polish shades having slightly smaller, different colored handles and clear bottles instead of black ombre.

I can justify spending $50 on a bottle of polish since I'm a nail artist but would you take the plunge?

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Dermelect was kind enough to send me some red, white and blue polish in preparation for the 4th of July!

Dermelect is a skincare line that has released the first anti-aging peptide infused nail laquer! I received Red-iculous, Opulence and Phenom.

Dermelect is running a giveaway when you upload your patriotic nails with the hashtag #nailMe. You could win the entire 'ME' lacquer collection!

I created my look by layering Opulence on the bottom, splitting the nail in half with straight stripes from Nail Vinyls and painting half the nail blue with Phenom and the other half with red Red-iculous stripes. Finally, I topped them off with silver nail vinyl stars using Julep Empire.